Confused with the time limit. The RPGfan review says the game pretty much ends in 5 years. Could someone clarify that? Does the game end in 5 years no matter what? Are you forced to progress through the story after getting the license in 3 years?

Serious question - I have Atelier Iris 1&2 (and plan to pick up 3 at my local video game store soon).

Do these new games tie into those?

No, only Rorona ties into Totori. Playing Rorona first is A plus, but not needed. It is nice because you get all the references to the 1st game, some will not make much sense without playing Rorona. It is also nice seeing how returning characters have changed since Rorona.

Okay thanks, but what I was asking after the "end" year 6 month 6, is it completely game over or is it open ended (like after beating game, there would be extra content and you can freely roam around and doing whatever)

The way this game is described so far AFAIK, its like a arcade RPG, you get to play X amount of game time, and when that time ends, it is game over no matter how many quarters you put in... to use that kind of analogy. Basically this sounds like a time limited game in the strictest sense.

Okay thanks, but what I was asking after the "end" year 6 month 6, is it completely game over or is it open ended (like after beating game, there would be extra content and you can freely roam around and doing whatever)

The way this game is described so far AFAIK, its like a arcade RPG, you get to play X amount of game time, and when that time ends, it is game over no matter how many quarters you put in... to use that kind of analogy. Basically this sounds like a time limited game in the strictest sense.

I suppose it is "strict" in that there is a cut-off point, but try not to stress about it so much. It'll make the game a lot more enjoyable. You will probably have time to do almost everything you want to do, and if not, there's New Game+. :)

Do not sweat over the time restrictions. The only thing that would be really tough to get on your first play through is the true ending. You can also easily break most of the games non boss encounters with Rorona, if you gear her up properly, which is not hard to do.

Do not sweat over the time restrictions. The only thing that would be really tough to get on your first play through is the true ending. You can also easily break most of the games non boss encounters with Rorona, if you gear her up properly, which is not hard to do.

I [think] I'm a year in... WHERE DO YOU GET EQUIPMENT FROM!>!??! And money is pretty tight too often. Tricky title!

Do not sweat over the time restrictions. The only thing that would be really tough to get on your first play through is the true ending. You can also easily break most of the games non boss encounters with Rorona, if you gear her up properly, which is not hard to do.

I [think] I'm a year in... WHERE DO YOU GET EQUIPMENT FROM!>!??! And money is pretty tight too often. Tricky title!

Make various types of metal bars or cloths then go to Hagel in Arland. Hagel also sells the recipes to said items. You can make pretty much make the second best weapon you can get by buying the platine bar from Hagel for 7k, then when you get Chim (sometime the second year, I think) have Chim make duplicates. The nice part about Chim is it just needs to see the bar to make a copy of it so after you have shown it you are free to make a weapon out of it. Give it to Rorona. You can further break Rorona by synthing a gnardi ring with +20, +10 skill bonus. Mine also had 20% less mp usage, ice power, and earth power. You can also wholesale the ring to Tiffani so all your characters can have one. Rorona with that set up is an aoe god that can restore her mp with her pie ability. The Platine bar is only available after a certain rank I think it is either silver, or gold. The tough part is raising your alchemy to the level where you can comfortably make these items.

I feel like a complete idiot for having to ask this, but where do I find Sterk to hire him? I should note that I have already gotten the message saying that I can hire him, I just don't know where he actually is. You have to talk to somebody to add them to your party and I've looked all over both towns and don't see Sterk anywhere...

I [think] I'm a year in... WHERE DO YOU GET EQUIPMENT FROM!>!??! And money is pretty tight too often. Tricky title!

It is hard to earn money the first part of the game it gets easier later. At the beginning just save up your money from quests and only buy needed recipes. Later you can make money by getting 3-5 Chims and have them make items, or have them gather mats that have the best time of days invested/ amount sold for ratio. You can also get a recipe from Rorona by doing her pie quest ( make all pies). Get the recipe, and fill up all of Tiffani's wholesale slots with the highest rated spring cups you can make.Buy them, use the spring cups, then sell whatever you get back to Tiffani. If you have not upgraded your basket to 100 slots do so. All you have to do is go to Tiffany with a full basket, and then buy something. She will then give you a new basket. I forgot what rank you have to be to do this but its not that high.Another way I found is when you make diamond rank go to crystal spot and gather everything. Most of the mats are S ranked and sell for a decent amount. To cut down on days being lost you can make speed gloves and travel shoes which will sharply reducing the amount of days lost from traveling and gathering.